Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 94 Preparing to Build a Greenhouse (6)
"Enough frowning, it doesn’t suit you. I’ll find you an accountant, and in a few days, I’ll go over to your place," Xiao Chen said tenderly, seeing Feng Xuxu furrowing her brow, and caressed her head with his large hand.
Feng Xuxu’s eyes lit up, "That’s great, then I won’t have to worry anymore." She pursed her lips, revealing a shallow dimple.
Feng Xuxu lingered for two hours before she saw that it was getting late and got into the carriage to head back.
As they reached the marketplace, everyone was eagerly discussing and pointing at the foreign-looking herders leading oxen on the road; they seemed to be people from beyond the border.
"Oh, those oxen look so odd, with spots of white and black," Baihe said with curiosity, pricking up her ears to the chatter of the townspeople. She peeked out of the carriage window and, upon seeing a passing herd of oxen, exclaimed in surprise.
The previously drowsy Feng Xuxu suddenly heard Baihe’s words and, coming back to her senses, ordered Yingsu to stop the carriage. After the carriage pulled over, Feng Xuxu hopped down and chased after the nearby oxen.
"Wait a moment." Feng Xuxu ran up to catch up. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
"Miss, may I help you?" asked the leader, seeing Feng Xuxu dressed in silk embroidered with designs from Lotus Garden, and wearing a light pink silk shawl over it, politely inquiring.
"Are you planning to sell these oxen?" It seemed they were heading to the livestock market.
"Yes, miss. We exchanged these with the tribes beyond the border for sheep. We thought to exchange them here for some silver to prepare for winter food storage," the leader replied in the awkward language of Xueyan Country, but Feng Xuxu understood the gist of it.
"I see. How much silver are you asking for each one?" Feng Xuxu saw the troubled expressions on these foreign herders’ faces; they had traversed mountains and rivers to get here and likely couldn’t sell the oxen in the border towns, which is why they came to this one after several hundred li.
"One hundred taels each," the men discussed among themselves in their language before giving an answer.
Feng Xuxu glanced around and shook her head, "That’s too high. If it were lower, I might have taken them all." She then shook her head, ready to walk away.
"Wait, miss," the leader hastily stopped her, "we can talk about the price. We’ve come from far away, and we can’t afford to lose too much."
"How about this," Feng Xuxu pondered and then proposed, "eighty taels a head, and not a tael more." She felt this price was fair.
The leader thought it over and then nodded in agreement. In total, ten heads of oxen for eight hundred taels, exchanging silver for cattle hand to hand. Delighted, Feng Xuxu circled the oxen before getting back into the carriage and heading home.
"Miss, what do you want with these sickly spotted oxen?" Baihe asked, puzzled.
Feng Xuxu chuckled, "They are not sick oxen, they are dairy cows. When we get back, I’ll tell you about their wonderful uses." She kept Baihe in suspense with a mysterious look on her face.
Leading the ten head of cattle, they finally arrived at the manor after a shaky ride in the carriage.
They drove the carriage through the back gate and into the yard. Feng Xuxu then put the dairy cows together with her own buffalo. Hearing that the young lady had bought several sick cattle, the butler briskly made his way to the livestock room, where he found the young lady gleefully inspecting them, leaving him utterly bemused.
"Miss, you’re back, and what are these..." the butler started, pointing at the cattle.
"Butler, you’ve arrived at the perfect time. Summon Du Fu to build a large enclosure outside the yard the size of five acres. I’ll draw up a blueprint for the inside, and when it’s time, lead these cows there and take good care of them," Feng Xuxu instructed the butler as she inspected the newly purchased cattle, planning to build shelters for the dairy cows.
"This... what kind of cattle are these?" The butler was unsure whether it was necessary to construct a shelter for these few animals.
